There are only four stats in Amber, and as such, they have a
tendency, in my mind, to
be stretched too far. Warfare, surely a useful skill, governs everything from chess,
fencing, tactics, grand stratagems, and even martial arts techniques by some people's
definitions. And that's just one of the stats.

The rule I use (influenced by the interaction of the four stats in the diceless system Everway)
is that no stat exists in a vacuum. Every activity has one major stat that influences the
outcome, and one stat that influences it to a lesser degree. I'm going to try to give an
example of all the possible (or at least likely) interactions:

Swordplay

Warfare + (Strength/2)

Makes Gerard (with, say, a warfare of 50 but a
Strength of 200) much more
formidable, as he comes out a with a very respectable point total.

Tactics

Warfare + (Psyche/2)

Makes Brand a serious threat to everyone, except maybe Benedict, and still
gives old Benny a run for the money.

Psyche Finesse

Psyche + (Warfare/2)

Used for determining success of psyche/power/spell attacks.
or Chess/etc -- As anyone who spars/duels/plays RPG's can attest, the Chess environment does
take a different mindset than the battlefield.

Brute Psyche

Psyche + (Strength/2)

Put that huge battery of body fitness to use! I use this as a
basis for how much damage spells and other blasts of offensive energy will do to the
target, as well as for tests of willpower once psychic contact is established.

Hand-to-Hand

Strength + (Warfare/2)

Put some oomf into arguments that high Warfare gives good hand-to-hand
techniques, but still lets Gerard remain the (very) Big-Dog at the top of the heap.

Strength Finesse

Strength + (Psyche/2)

I've heard some good suggestions for this, most notably in tasks like rock
climbing, hang-gliding, and other situations where a person's physical power needs to be
applied with a little control.